The effects of substrate temperature (T-sub) Of Si(1 0 0) on the orientation of hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) films synthesized using magnetron sputtering and Plasma-Enhanced CVD (PECVD) were studied, respectively. It was observed that higher T-sub could result in the growth of (0 0 0 2) oriented h-BN films and improve the crystallinity of the films, in contrast the films with the c-axis basically parallel to the surface at lower ones. A tentative explanation on the mechanism of the orientation characteristic is suggested, under the integration of compressive stress due to ion bombardment and desorption from thermal excitation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.